From The President of the AFD&MA, INC.

To My Colleagues:

Thank you for your presence, participation and organization on behalf of the Alabama Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, Inc. (AFDMA). Our success could not have been possible without your support and cooperation. Your diligence and hard work are “second to none.”

To our local AFDMA host committee: C.J. Small, Carole Jones Banks, Bryonda Collins, A. Gail Works and Richard Trask, Jr. Thanks for your organizing and originality at the 82nd National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, Inc. (NFDMA) Convention held in Mobile, Alabama. Excellence and true effort were shown with the Ad Journal and the Undertakers Soirée. We were proud to support our Life Member and 2019 NFDMA Professional of the Year, Mr. Bobby E. Brown, Sr. Venus Smith and your Educational Team presented informative classes with overflowing capacity. Our AFDMA Ladies Auxiliary Hat-A-Tude luncheon with Aunt Flossie was a sellout, with special thanks to Mrs. Linnie Foster, Bad Madison, Katrina Roper, and Mary Curry. Many other members stepped in to assist with no hesitation. “THANKS TO ALL.”

I realize that this was a substantial time commitment and your hard work has not gone unnoticed. We have received many accolades from our professional funeral colleagues, vendors and lay persons for all activities presented and our southern hospitality extended in “SWEET HOME ALABAMA.” “WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER”

Standards, Principles, Education and Integrity.

Respectfully yours,

Dr. Christal M. Whitfield President

We had an awesome 82nd Annual State Convention in Atmore, Alabama and now it is time to prepare for the National Convention held in Mobile, Alabama. You have been receiving emails the past couple of days regarding our advertisement in the annual Souvenir Journal. The proceeds from the Souvenir Journal will come to the state of Alabama as a fundraiser. This is an excellent opportunity for the association. We are asking that each member of the association please commit to sending in an AD by July 1, 2019, and no later than July 7, 2019. This is a statewide effort and we need your support. Please consider contacting your local businesses in your area to commit to an AD with us as well. Please contact:

The association is asking members to please support The Undertakers Carnivale Soiree on Monday, August 5, 2019. This is a semi-formal event. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. You do not want to miss this event!!

REMINDER – Renewal Time Anyone who has not renewed their apprentice certification, funeral establishment, funeral director, embalmer or practical embalmer license, may still do so with a $50.00 late penalty until October 31, 2017. If you fail to submit your paperwork and fee, including late penalty, for renewal by the October 31st deadline, the license(s) or certification will be considered lapsed. At which time the establishment (s) or individual must cease operations and or practice. Any paperwork and fees received after the October 31st deadline must go before the Board for reactivation approval in January and the licensee must cease practice or operation until the license has been reactivated. ONLINE RENEWAL is available for individual licensees and establishment by going to the Homepage of the Alabama Board of Funeral Service website and click on the “ONLINE SERVICES” button. A valid credit card will be needed to complete the online renewal. There will be a 4% administration fee added to each license that is renewed using the online system. – The website is fsb.alabama.gov

ii. – Medical Waste Management(These links will lead you to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.)

2. Be prepared !

The ABFS feels that it is important that funeral homes be prepared for the possibility that they may be called on to provide services for an infected person, and if that be the case, ABFS wants the funeral professionals in this state to know how to protect themselves as well as the community they serve. This information is not meant to alarm anyone, only to inform. However it is our prayer that none of us have to encounter this deadly disease.

ABFS encourages everyone to continue to monitor the ADPH website and CDC website. As more information is release to ABFS we will be forwarding that information to our funeral professionals.